Hey, Hey, Hey- I'm back keeping you in the loop about
Harlaxton Happenings!
After all of us Harlaxton kids endured the Great
Unpleasantness of the first British Studies exam, we called upon King Charles
II's power of party and celebrated by jet setting across Europe. From Portugal to Greece to Germany, Harlaxton
was everywhere this past weekend. However, I, like many of my other fellow students,
hopped on some form of transportation and headed to England's neighbor-
Ireland.
Spending the weekend in Ireland was a dream come true for
me. Since I was a tiny tot in the second grade, Ireland has been my '#1 Bucket
List Country' to visit, so it was crazy surreal to finally be experiencing this
beautiful country. My friends (Shelby & Savannah) and I arrived in Dublin
on Thursday afternoon, since we chose to travel independently. We made it to
our hostel, Abraham's House (totally recommend!) and after a great lunch and a
quick nap, we took off exploring the city of Dublin.
The city of Dublin was absolutely gorgeous. I'm not
exactly sure how, but Dublin gives off the big city vibe, without the hustle and bustle of a typical big city. I felt like I could actually breathe, which
was really nice after a long day of travel, and everybody was so kind. All of
the landmarks and historical sites were incredibly close to one another, which
allowed you to see a ton of the city in one short night. My friends and I
followed the walking tour provided to us by Dr. Green and we had a blast. We
saw the Bank of Ireland, the Famine Memorial, the governmental buildings, as
well as several cathedrals. But our favorite site was Trinity College. We
basically wanted to drop out of school and attend this college because it was
so incredibly beautiful. The
architecture was gorgeous and there was green space everywhere. My words can't
do Trinity justice, so here are some pictures:
After becoming #OBSESSED with Trinity College, we met up
with some of our friends on the school trip for a nice dinner at an Italian
restaurant. It was a very good meal, despite the fact the waiter had no idea
what alfredo sauce was. All of us spent the night completing the walking tour
and ended the night at the Ha'Penny Bridge. This particular bridge was
stunning- it was my second favorite site after Trinity College, which is weird
because I am terrified of walking bridges at night. The light from the bridge
was reflecting perfectly off the water, which meant for really great photo
opportunities.
On Friday morning, Shelby, Savannah, and I hopped on our
bright green, free Wi-Fi equipped PaddyWagon to begin our 3-day tour of the
Irish countryside. I cannot emphasize how amazing this particular tour was- it
was worth every single pound, euro, and dollar spent. We saw so much of Ireland
that we normally would not have been able to see on our own due to
transportation limitations. Plus, our driver Tony (or as TripAdvisor reviews
say, 'Jesus') was the cherry-on-top of our experience. He knew Ireland's
history like the back of his hand, sang and played for us traditional Irish
music, and stopped in the most random, beautiful places that truly showcased
Ireland's beauty.
Our first stop was the village of Cong, which was where
the John Wayne film, The Quiet Man,
was filmed. I had no idea that we were stopping here, so it was a pleasant
surprise when I hopped off the PW and saw an incredibly beautiful, quaint
village. There was a peaceful stream running through the village, as well as
gorgeous monastery ruins. Plus, we had an incredible day for exploring, as
there was nothing but bright blue skies.
A short distance from the village of Cong, Tony stopped
to show us an incredible view of Clew Bay, which is home to 365 islands. I
legitimately lost my breath when Tony stopped the PW. The view was so
awe-inspiring. The area that we stopped at is also home to a farmer that owns
several Connemara ponies, and one of them just trotted right up to us, which
was incredibly awesome. After the Clew Bay and Connemara ponies, we stopped at
the base of the Twelve Bens, a small mountain chain in western Ireland. Once
again, I was just amazed at the diversity of the Irish Countryside. As our last
stop of the day, we visited the Quiet Man
Bridge, which was a bridge used in the movie I mentioned earlier. There
wasn't much to it, but once again, a very pretty view of the Irish countryside.
After everyone got their pictures, we all hopped on to the PW and headed into
Galway City for the night.
Our night in Galway was filled with a lot of night beach
exploring, which was great. We went the long way around to the beach and a kind
cop pointed us in the right direction on how to get back because he saw us
standing on a street corner and staring at a map. But either way, we made it
back and had a wonderful night! We woke up the next morning and made our way to
the Cliffs of Moher, which was the highlight of the day. But along the way, we
stopped at Dunguaire Castle, which overlooked a gorgeous bay area. So much wow.
Tony then took us to some remnants of a church (again, so pretty against at
bright blue sky) and we stopped at the "Baby Cliffs of Moher." The Baby Cliffs
were just incredible. I was actually able to climb down into a ledge that
overlooked the waves, and although I thought I was going to fall to my death any
second, I am so glad that I did it because the view of the waves crashing
against the rocks was amazing.
I guess that Tony heard our stomachs growling, and we
stopped to have lunch about ten minutes away from the Cliffs of Moher. Being
cheap, I only had a (delicious) sandwich and some amazing Roast Beef and Irish
Stout chips. (Who would have thought that combination would have been good? I’m
not sure but I am glad that they did.) Anyway, we headed along to the Cliffs
of Moher and I was basically jumping up and down in my seat from excitement. I
have been looking forward to seeing the Cliffs of Moher for so long and it was
finally happening.
It's so so so hard to describe the Cliffs of Moher
because their beauty is basically indescribable. I certainly didn't have any
words besides "Wow" when I was there. Just incredible. Shelby, Savannah, and I
hiked the right side of the Cliffs because Tony said that is where we would get
the best view and he wasn’t lying. The water was a gorgeous blue and the way it
was crashing against the gray and green rocks was unbelievable. I walked away
incredibly impressed with the Cliffs. Again, I was sure that I was going to
fall to my death, but I managed to take a quick peek over the edge and it was
well worth the fright. Like before, words will never be able to give the Cliffs
of Moher justice so here are some of the pictures I managed to snag:
As with all good things, the Cliffs of Moher had to come
to an end, even though I could have spent an entire day there. We jumped onto
our PW and headed to Killarney, our resting stop for the night. But before we
reached our destination, Tony stopped at a random village along the way to show
us some sights. Even though we had to trek through a small field of donkey poo,
we got a great view of the town and it was so worth it. Plus, it was a nice
spot to get some fresh air and move our legs because we still had quite a ride
to Killarney.
Sunday was mainly a travel day to get us back to Dublin,
but along the way we made two castle stops. The first was Blarney Castle, so of
course the three of us climbed to the top of the castle to kiss the stone. The
weather while we were there was less than delightful, so we got soaked waiting
to kiss the stone, but had a great time nonetheless. After the stone, we
wandered around the grounds and then stopped for lunch where an Indiana woman
next to us recognized our Kentucky accents. Although I didn't know this woman
personally, it was nice to have a little piece of home with us for a few
minutes.
It was an incredibly long drive, but we eventually made
it back to Dublin to catch our flight and we said our goodbyes to Tony, Jason
from Shangai, and Ebony and Sallie from Australia, all of whom were excellent
travelling companions. Our flight ended
up getting delayed, so we were stuck in the airport for about six hours. We didn't
make it back to the manor until 2:30 am and I didn't get into bed until after 3
am, so British Studies at 8:30 am was basically awful, but the exhaustion I
felt was totally worth the weekend. I had one of the best weekends of my life
and made amazing memories with even more amazing people. I am so incredibly and
continually blessed by my experience here at Harlaxton!
Until next time,
McKenzie
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